Circular Economy/Sustainability

The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. The circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design:

We must transform every element of our take-make-waste system: how we manage resources, how we make and use products, and what we do with the materials afterward. Only then can we create a thriving circular economy that can benefit everyone within the limits of our planet.

Carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets, are permits that allow the owner to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. One credit permits the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent of other greenhouse gases.

The carbon credit is half of a so-called cap-and-trade program. Companies that pollute are awarded credits that allow them to continue to pollute up to a certain limit, which is reduced periodically. Meanwhile, the company may sell any unneeded credits to another company that needs them. Private companies are thus doubly incentivized to reduce greenhouse emissions. First, they must spend money on extra credits if their emissions exceed the cap. Second, they can make money by reducing their emissions and selling their excess allowances.

Proponents of the carbon credit system say that it leads to measurable, verifiable emission reductions from certified climate action projects and that these projects reduce, remove, or avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

A carbon footprint assessment measures the total set of greenhouse gases that are emitted at different stages of a product’s life cycle. The most recognized methodologies used for a carbon footprint assessment are based upon the ISO 14044 standard and the PAS 2050.

Greenhouse gases are compressible fluids that were attributed a coefficient for their global warming potential (GWP) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These gases are converted into CO₂e (e means ‘equivalent’) by multiplying their weight with the GWP value.

Greenhouse gases and their GWP value

The carbon footprint assessment includes the greenhouse gas emissions that are released during different stages of the life cycle of bananas. The inputs and outputs are analyzed for every production stage, and emissions related to production and transportation are calculated.

The emissions that are directly emitted during one stage as well as the indirect emissions are taken into account. For instance, the combustion of fossil fuels causes a direct emission in a production or transportation phase but the production of fossil fuels is also related to greenhouse gas emissions. The later one is called an indirect emission.

For every production stage, the inputs and outputs are inventoried. This means that the yield (of primary and co-products) is inventoried, just like the amount of discarded products.

For bananas, in a typical “cradle-to-gate” approach, the following stages of the life cycle, and their impact on the overall carbon footprint, are taken into consideration:

Soil emissions (direct and indirect soil emissions related to fertilizer use)

Indirect emissions due to the manufacturing and transportation of agricultural inputs

Energy consumption: fuel used for the jets carrying out aerial spraying, diesel/gasoline used for tractors or ground spraying equipment

Indirect emissions are used to produce the plastic bags used in the plantation to protect the banana bunches.

Energy consumption: electricity used for lighting the packing house and operating the pumps that extract water from the wells, diesel for running generators when power supply fails

Indirect emissions due to the manufacturing and transportation of packing inputs (e.g. corrugated board) 

Energy consumption: for transporting, by rail or truck, banana boxes from the packing station to the port terminal

Electricity used at the terminal

Fuel used for transportation at the terminal and in the port 

Refrigerant used for the storage of bananas in the container terminal

Fuel used during shipping and port calls and for transporting bananas from the port of discharge to the ripening facility

Refrigerant used during the shipping phase

Ethylene and energy used for cooling and heating the facility.

Transportation from the ripening facility to the retailer’s distribution center: Fuel consumption

In line with the approach of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the emissions identified within the system boundary and the different stages are assigned to three different scopes as follows:

Scope 1: Scope 1 emissions include the direct GHG emissions of a company. These emissions arise from sources that are owned or controlled by the company.

Scope 2: Scope 2 emissions include indirect GHG emissions of the product. These are emissions from the generation of purchased electricity consumed by the company. Purchased electricity is defined as electricity that is purchased or otherwise brought into the organizational boundary of the company. Scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where electricity is generated.

Scope 3: Scope 3 emissions include other indirect GHG emissions of the company. These emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company but occur at sources owned or controlled by another company.